Celebrating Mothers While Supporting the Postal Service

For the fourth year in a row, the Mother’s Day Greeting Card event took place on Capitol Hill late last month. The event, which was sponsored by Keep US Posted, Greeting Card Association (GCA), American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Envelope Manufacturing Association (EMA), Hallmark, Up With Paper, and PRINTING United Alliance, allows Congresspeople and Congressional staffers to mail cards to their mothers for the annual holiday. This year, more than 1,200 cards were given out.

Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Texas), on the right, gave remarks to the attendees of the Mother's Day card event. He stands with former Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-Kans.), executive director of Keep US Posted.

Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Postal Regulatory Commission vice chairman Robert Taub provided remarks on behalf of the mailing industry about sharing the value of mail and the importance of Keep US Posted’s work.

According to the organization’s website, Keep US Posted is “a nonprofit advocacy group of consumers, nonprofits, newspapers, greeting card publishers, magazines, catalogs, and small businesses — all united in the belief that a reliable, affordable U.S. Postal Service is essential to our way of life and should be protected. Keep US Posted supports alternatives to current and future efforts to slow the mail and increase postage rates.”

Former Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-Kans.), executive director of Keep US Posted, explains the intention behind the Mother’s Day initiative.

"Keep US Posted is proud to provide moms across the country with yet another reason to smile,” he says. “As always, our Mother’s Day greeting card event served as a powerful reminder of the value of mail. Congressional staffers of all ages excitedly attended and wrote, addressed, and mailed their cards, while several members of Congress and Postal Regulatory Commission leaders also attended to support the event and discuss the importance of our work. Thanks to all who joined us, especially our sponsors and participating greeting card companies, for making it possible for us to give out more than 1,200 cards — the most we have ever provided in the four years we have been holding the event. Together, we are dedicated to keeping the U.S. Postal Service delivering reliably and affordably."

The event also presented an opportunity for connection, one of the reasons print and mail is still so powerful.

“We talk a lot about connection, but we don’t always slow down to practice it,”  Marie Clark, CEO and president of the EMA, shares. “This event creates that moment. When policymakers sit down to address an envelope and write a card, they’re learning or reconnecting with something real. It’s a powerful reminder of why mail still matters.”

On the advocacy side, the Mother’s Day event brings awareness of the printing and mailing industries directly to the changemakers on Capitol Hill. Lisbeth Lyons Black, director of Women in Print Alliance, a special initiative led by PRINTING United Alliance, attended the event.

“The printing and direct mail industry brings strong economic data to Congress in support of the postal supply chain, and that matters,” Lyons Black says. “But activations like the Mother’s Day greeting card event are what make advocacy tangible, giving lawmakers and their staff a chance to experience the value of ink-on-paper and mail firsthand.”

Attendees had the opportunity to fill out Mother's Day cards and mail them in time for the holiday.

From left, Lisbeth Lyons Black, director of Women in Print Alliance, and Julie Philp, senior partner at ACG Advocacy.